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Marriage: Fight the Good Fight

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Conflict in marriage is inevitable.  People are different - and when to you take two people as different as a man and a women (as much as they might love each other) and put them around each other for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week - they are going to fight.

Most married couples are not well equipped to fight well because they simply don't understand how they should fight and what they should be fighting for.  The Bible gives us remarkable (and challenging) insight into how we are wired and why we end up in conflict - and when we understand that, we will be better prepared to fight well.

The bottom line is that God gave us marriage to make us holy first and make us happy second.  Holiness can be an intimidating word - but it simply means that we are what God has made us to be.  When we are becoming more holy, we are becoming more of the person God has designed us to be.

And as we become holier, we are in a better position to experience and share God's best in our lives.  As a result, holiness actually increases our capacity for happiness.

But when we fight for happiness instead of holiness, we undermine the very thing we are trying to gain.  We fight for the fruit (happiness) but are actually killing the root (holiness).  Understanding the true nature of love can help us know whether we are moving toward God's design for us - or away from it and toward selfishness.

I had the privilege to preach last weekend on how to fight the good fight in marriage and explore these themes in more depth.  If you have a chance, take a listen and let me know what you think.  You can grab the audio here.
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